Crime & Safety

'Huckster' Kevin Trudeau Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison

Oak Brook informercial king slammed by judge as "deceitful to the very core" as sentence was imposed Monday.

Called "deceitful to the very core," by a federal judge, infomercial king and Oak Brook resident Kevin Trudeau was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison for his failure to pay $37 million in fines over his fraudulent claims.

Trudeau appeared contrite in court and "looked frazzled" from four months in a Chicago jail as he awaited sentencing, according to the Chicago Tribune. Trudeau issued a statement saying he knew he had made mistakes. He's been in jail since Nov. 12.

Prosecutors last week called him "an unrepentant ... huckster" who made $49 million off 850,000 copies of his diet book The Weight-Loss Cure "They" Don’t Want You to Know About

Trudeau was convicted by a federal jury of criminal contempt for making making false claims in his infomercials for his diet book.

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A judge dismissed Trudeau's statement and said he had been mocking the justice system for months.

He has told the court he's living in poverty, but the Federal Trade Commission has obtained records from a number of sources that showed Trudeau was "in control of multiple lucrative business ventures that funded a lavish lifestyle, replete with luxury automobiles and stately homes," according to ABC News.

Find out what's happening in La Grangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

From 2010 to 2013, according to prosecutors, Trudeau has:

  • spent $12 million on airfare, gym memberships, salon trips
  • bought $12,000 cuff links
  • bought a six-figure Bentley automobile
  • bought mansions in Oak Brook and California


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